Page 14 - Georgia Forestry - Issue1 - Winter 2021

will likely be a model for others in the industry to follow. Of course, actually getting the cups into the recycling stream will require cultural change within munic- ipalities, purveyors of single-use cups and, ultimately, consumers accustomed to tossing their empty drink containers in the trash.
But Kate Daly, managing director of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, said the effort is a worthy one.
“Globally, 250 billion hot and cold fiber cups are distributed each year,” Daly said. “While many cups are potentially recyclable, the vast majority still end up in landfills because of inconsistencies in recycling collection or infrastructure and customer confusion, wasting valuable resources. This signals a huge oppor- tunity to redirect waste and maximize the value of materials already flowing through our supply chains.”
The impact can be so big, Daly said, that it’s worth pursuing even if it’s got an expiration date. And this PE-separat- ing innovation does have one. In fact, it was created as a mere placeholder while Georgia-Pacific and Closed Loop work on developing the real prize — a “next- generation paper cup” in which the polyethylene coating will be replaced by recyclable and/or compostable material.
“While we are very enthusiastic about the sustainability attributes of next- generation cups that have replaced the PE coating,” Daly explained, “these cups will take time to scale and will co-exist with PE-coated cups in the near term. It’s important to create pathways for
Left: JuneShine’s paperboard box packaging replaces plastic six-pack holders. Top: The paperboard CanCollar; one of WestRock’s many new innovations.
the recovery of all fiber cups, whether PE-coated or next generation.”
In other words, recycling PE-lined cups is a micro-solution paving the way for a bigger one. This is the way of sustainability efforts these days — they are pointed and always bent on reinventing themselves.
But on a scale as large as this one, their impact can still be huge.
International
Paper + Raw Protein
Companies
International Paper’s solution for a group of anonymous raw protein com- panies defies our usual way of thinking about sustainability. (Raw protein, by the way, is the industry term for meat.)
Washing and reusing a container — even if it is a plastic one made from fossil fuels — must surely be preferable to using a single-use, corrugated one, right?
The answer by several different metrics is actually a resounding nope.
The Memphis, Tennessee-based packag- ing, pulp and paper company developed the corrugated containers at the behest of “many of our customers who wanted a renewable, recyclable alternative to Returnable Plastic Container trays used for distributing raw protein between protein producers and retail locations,” explained International Paper’s chief sustainability officer, Sophie Beckham.
One reason for this request was to improve food safety. Returnable Plastic Containers (RPCs), even after washing,
can be a source of cross-contamination. But all other aspects of this innovation earn sustainability points, as outlined by a case study shared by International Paper:
• Corrugated raw protein containers are renewable, recyclable and compostable.
• Unlike RPCs, corrugated packaging needn’t be returned to its source for washing and re-filling. That means fewer emissions from freight trucks. Eliminating washing cuts down on water usage as well.
• The corrugated containers also have less volume and weight
than RPCs, requiring 70% less freight space. “For every trailer of corrugated trays unloaded,” the case study reports, “producers would have to unload 3.5 trucks of RPCs to move an equal amount of packaged raw protein.”
Not incidentally, these sustainable improvements also amount to financial savings.
“Back-hauling RPCs can incur over $1 million in costs for shipping, handling and washing,” the study notes. “Due to the increased efficiency in using custom- ized corrugated trays in the raw protein segment, we can infer that the cost savings to customers is even greater.”
In other words, in addition to fiber sourcing and recyclability, design matters to sustainability efforts.
As Beckham wrote in a GreenBiz op-ed in August of 2020, “Improving the circularity of the value chain begins in the forest with the stewardship of our raw materials, and relies on the sustain- able design, production and end use of the fiber-based products we create.”
WestRock +
JuneShine
Sustainability was baked into JuneSh- ine’s mission statement from day one. The fact that the emphatically outdoorsy, San Diego-based hard kombucha maker is only three years old probably has a lot to do with that.
“We feel like it’s our duty to take this initiative,” said Josh Lichtman, June- Shine’s director of development and hospitality. He points to the company’s
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COURTESY OF WESTROCK